NIA arrests 4 suspected AQIS members out on bail in Assam

GUWAHATI: NIA arrested four suspected members of Bangladesh-based radical Islamic group Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), a chapter of the Al Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent (AQIS), in Assam's Goalpara and Bongaigaon districts in the last 24 hours, police said on Sunday.
Interestingly, all four were arrested by Assam Police last year and were granted bail last month. The arrestees were identified as Abdus Subahan, Jalaluddin Sheikh, Abdus Subhan and Hafizur Rahman. The first three were picked up from Goalpara district, while Hafizur was caught at Jogighopa in Bongaigaon district.
Goalpara SP VV Rakesh Reddy told TOI that the four were arrested last August for their alleged links with AQIS and for carrying out its activities in the district. Subhan and Sheikh, who were working as Imams in two masjids at Matia in Goalpara districts, were caught on August 27 last. Sobahan and Rahman, who were teaching in a madrassa, were appointed by the Imams. They were arrested four days later on August 31.
They were allegedly providing logistics and shelters to many now absconding Bangladesh nationals, who were suspected members of the ABT, in the said districts since 2019. They were also engaged in recruiting for sleeper cells.
Police had found their direct links with the modules of ABT, which were busted in Barpeta and Morigaon districts in the state in July last year. These ABT modules were found to have links in Kolkata. Police had also found their connection all the way to Banda district in Uttar Pradesh and their communication with the members of the group active in UP for the last 10 to 15 years.
Last year, Assam Police arrested at least 40 suspected members of the ABT in different parts of the state.